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Woman Holding a Balance is a superb example of Johannes Vermeer’s exquisite sense of stability and rhythm. A woman dressed in a blue jacket with fur trim stands serenely at a table in a corner of a room. The scales in her right hand are at equilibrium, suggestive of her inner state of mind. A large painting of the Last Judgment, framed in black, hangs on the back wall of the room. A shimmering blue cloth, open boxes, two strands of pearls, and a gold chain lie on the sturdy table. Soft light comes in through the window and illuminates the scene. The woman is so pensive that the viewer almost hesitates to intrude on her quiet moment of contemplation.

The visual juxtaposition of the woman and the Last Judgment is reinforced by thematic parallels: to judge is to weigh. This scene has religious implications that seem related to Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s instructions, in his Spiritual Exercises, that the faithful, prior to meditating, first examine their conscience and weigh their sins as if facing Judgment Day. Only such introspection could lead to virtuous choices along the path of life. Woman Holding a Balance thus allegorically urges us to conduct our lives with temperance and moderation. The woman is poised between the earthly treasures of gold and pearls and a visual reminder of the eternal consequences of her actions.

Vermeer emphasized this message through his superbly refined composition and lighting. The hand holding the balance, for example, occupies a position directly in front of the frame’s dark corner, while the scales are set off against the bare plaster wall—an effect that Vermeer created through subtle spatial manipulation. Note, for instance, that the bottom of the Last Judgment’s frame is slightly higher to the left of the woman than it is behind her back, creating room for the balance.

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The young woman standing before a table in a corner of a room gazes toward the balance she is holding gently in her right hand. As though waiting for the delicate modulations of the balance to come to rest, she stands transfixed in a moment of equilibrium. She is dressed in a blue morning jacket bordered with white fur; seen through the parting of her jacket are vivid stripes of yellow and orange, perhaps ribbons or part of her bodice. Her white cap falls loosely to either side of her neck, framing her pensive yet serene face. Diffused sunlight, entering through an open window before her, helps illuminate the scene. The light, warmed by the orange curtain, flows across the gray wall and catches the fingers of the woman’s right hand and the balance before resting on her upper figure.

Behind the woman looms a painting of the Last Judgment,[1]&nbsp[1]The author of this painting has remained an enigma. No exact prototype for this composition of the Last Judgment is known. It appears, however, to be the work of a late sixteenth-century mannerist painter, probably of Flemish origin. One distinct possibility, kindly suggested by Dr. Pieter J. J. van Thiel, is Jacob de Backer (c. 1555–c. 1585), a student of Frans Floris I (Flemish, c. 1519 - 1570) and an artist who specialized in similar Last Judgment scenes. A distinctive characteristic of this composition, found often in De Backer’s works, is that Christ sits in judgment with both arms raised. Vermeer probably owned this painting of the Last Judgment. He dealt in works of art and seems to have used works from his own collection in his paintings. In the instances where we know the actual painting Vermeer owned, as, for example, The Procuress, 1622 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. no. 50.2721), by Dirck van Baburen (Dutch, c. 1595 - 1624), a painting that appears in two Vermeer compositions, his depictions remain rather faithful to the actual painting. He apparently modified the color schemes and the scale of the painting only to satisfy the needs of his composition. He probably made similar adjustments in the Last Judgment. For documents relating to the Baburen painting see A. J. J. M. van Peer, “Jan Vermeer van Delft: drie archiefvondsten,” Oud Holland 88 (1968): 220–224. For other instances of Dutch artists altering the dimensions of paintings within paintings see Wolfgang Stechow, “Landscape Painting in Dutch Seventeenth-Century Interiors,” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 11 (1960): 165–184. which acts as a compositional and iconographic foil to the scene before it. The Last Judgment,its proportions echoing those of the overall painting, occupies the entire upper right quadrant of the composition. Its rectangular shape establishes a quiet and stable framework against which Vermeer juxtaposes the figure of the woman, whose white cap and blue morning jacket contrast with the dark painting. Her figure is aligned with the central axis of the Last Judgment: her head lies at the middle of its composition, directly beneath the oval mandorla of the Christ in majesty. Her right hand coincides with the lower corner of the frame, which happens also to be the vanishing point of the perspective system. Her head and the central gesture of her hand are thus visually locked in space, and a seeming moment of quiet contemplation becomes endowed with permanence and symbolic associations.

The visual juxtaposition of the woman and the Last Judgment is reinforced by thematic parallels: to judge is to weigh. As Christ sits in majesty on the Day of Judgment, his gesture, with both arms raised, mirrors the opposing direction of the woman’s balance. His judgments are eternal; hers are temporal. Nevertheless, the woman’s pensive response to the balance suggests that her act of judgment, although different in consequence, is as conscientiously considered as that of the Christ behind her. What then is the thematic relationship between her act and the painting on the wall behind her?

This question has been asked time and again, and, indeed, the actual nature of her act and its significance have been variously interpreted. Most earlier interpretations of this painting focused on the act of weighing and were premised upon the assumption that the pans of the woman’s balance contain certain precious objects, generally identified as gold or pearls. Consequently, until recently the painting had been alternately described as the Goldweigher or the Girl Weighing Pearls.[2]&nbsp[2]A review of the diverse interpretations in the earlier literature on this painting is enlightening. It reinforces the notion that Vermeer often chose motifs and moments that have dual implications, ones which the protagonists, as well as the observer, must struggle to resolve. Théophile Thoré (William Bürger), to whom we owe so much for his enthusiasm and research of Vermeer, cataloged the painting as La Peseuse de perles in Théophile E. J. Thoré (William Bürger), “Van der Meer de Delft,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 21 (October–December 1866): 555–556, cat. 27. Although some confusion existed in his mind as to the objects she was weighing in her balance (“La main droite en l’air tient la balance soulevée; dans les plateaux sont des perles et des pièces d’or [?]”), he recognized immediately that a relationship existed between the painting behind the girl and her actions: “–Ah! tu pèses des bijoux? tu seras pesée et jugée à ton tour!” (Ah, you weigh jewelry? You too will be weighed and judged!). Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, trans. Edward G. Hawke, 8 vols. [London, 1907–1927], 1:586), on the other hand, described the painting as A Woman Weighing Gold: “In an interior a woman, wearing a dark blue velvet jacket trimmed with fur, stands weighing gold at a table with a blue cover.” Later, in “A Newly Discovered Picture by Vermeer of Delft,” Burlington Magazine 18 (December 1910): 134, Hofstede de Groot offered a somewhat more complex interpretation of the scene: “Her attention is concentrated on weighing gold, or possibly on testing the accuracy of her scales, for the purpose of weighing the pearls lying before her on the table; thus the picture is also mentioned by the title of A Woman Weighing Pearls.”Philip L. Hale, Vermeer (Boston and New York, 1937), 140–142, returned to this idea in his monograph on Vermeer. He cataloged the painting as “A Woman Weighing Gold sometimes called A Woman Weighing Pearls.”In his description of the painting he wrote: “Either weighing gold or testing the weights of her scale to weigh some pearls lying nearby, a lady stands close to an open window.”Perhaps the most extensive analysis of the symbolism of this painting was in Herbert Rudolph, “‘Vanitas.’ Die Bedeutung mittelalterlicher und humanistischer Bildinhalte in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts,” in Festschrift für Wilhelm Pinder zum sechzigsten Geburtstage (Leipzig, 1938), 405–412. He reemphasized the observation of Thoré (Bürger) on the thematic importance of paintings within paintings in the Dutch and Flemish traditions, extending back to Jan van Eyck and the Master of Flémalle. Rudolph saw the scene of the Last Judgmentas a central clue to the hidden symbolism of this painting, which he entitled The Pearlweigher. To help interpret the symbolism he emphasized that pearls and mirrors often had vanitas connotations, ones that were strengthened in the context of a scene of the Last Judgment. Indeed, he saw the woman as a personification of Vanitas. Rudolph noted, however, that the scales that the woman was holding were empty.P. T. A. Swillens, Johannes Vermeer: Painter of Delft, 1632–1675 (Utrecht, 1950), 105, also called the painting Girl Weighing Pearls but did not emphasize the vanitas nature of the scene as explicitly as did Rudolph. He wrote: “She endeavours to adjust her small scales, and is concentrating on this matter. . . . The thought of ‘The Judgment’ compels her to adjust the balance to accuracy.” Lawrence Gowing, Vermeer (London, 1952), 135, offered yet another interpretation. Entitling the painting A Lady Weighing Gold, he wrote: “In this painting a connection between the lady, who seems to be weighing pearls against gold, and the painting that hangs on the wall behind her turns the incident into a fanciful allegory of the Last Judgment.” He then added: “she takes on something of the character of Saint Michael, the weigher of souls in the part of the Last Judgment which is hidden.”Albert P. de Mirimonde, “Les Sujets musicaux chez Vermeer de Delft,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 57 (January 1961): 29, wrote about the symbolism of this painting:Now, in the case of the pearl weigher, Vermeer became moralist. Behind the beautiful woman, he placed a large painting whose meaning is full of threats: a Last Judgement. Who knows if these beautiful necklaces from the East will not be weighing very heavily in the balance of the Archangel? [translated by Jennifer Henel, 01/23/2012, from the French: Or pour une fois, dans la peseuse de perles, Vermeer s’est fait moraliste. Derrière la jolie femme, il a placé un grand tableau dont la signification est pleine de menaces: un jugement dernier. Qui sait si ces colliers d’un si bel orient ne seront pas d’un poids bien lourd dans la balance de l’Archange?]Ludwig Goldscheider, Jan Vermeer: The Paintings (London, 1958), 38, searching for the symbolism of the painting wrote: “If pearls can be the embodiment of earthly, transient beauty, how are we to interpret the picture of the Last Judgment behind the Lady Weighing Pearls? Vermeer’s symbolism is not hard to understand.”

Microscopic examination, however, has revealed that the apparent objects in the scales are painted in a manner quite different from the representation of gold or pearls found elsewhere in this painting [fig. 1]&nbsp[fig. 1] Detail, Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection, 1942.9.97. The highlights in the scale certainly do not represent gold, for they are not painted with lead-tin yellow, as is the gold chain draped over the jewelry casket. The pale, creamy color is more comparable to that found on the pearls, but while the point of light in the center of the left pan of the balance looks initially like a pearl, Vermeer’s technique of rendering pearls is different. As may be seen in the strand of pearls lying on the table and in those draped over the jewelry box, he paints pearls in two layers: a thin, underneath (grayish) layer and a superimposed highlight. This technique permits him to depict their specular highlights and at the same time to suggest their translucent and three-dimensional qualities. In the band of pearls draped over the box, the size of the pearl (the thin, diffused layer) remains relatively constant although the highlights on the pearls (the thick, top layer) vary considerably in size according to the amount of light hitting them. The highlight in the center of the left pan is composed of only one layer—the bright highlight. Lacking the underlayer, the spot is not only smaller but also less softly luminescent compared to the pearls. The more diffused highlight in the center of the right pan is larger, but it is not round and has no specular highlight. These points thus appear to be reflections of light from the window rather than objects unto themselves. Reinforcing the sense that the scales are empty is the fact that the pearls and gold on the boxes and table are bound together and none lie on the table as separate entities as though waiting to be weighed and measured against one another.

Even so, the jewelry boxes, strands of pearls, and gold chain on the table must be considered in any assessment of this painting’s meaning. As riches they belong to, and are valued within, the temporal world. They have been interpreted in the past as temptations of material wealth and the woman as the personification of Vanitas.[3]&nbsp[3]This was proposed by Herbert Rudolph, “‘Vanitas.’ Die Bedeutung mittelalterlicher und humanistischer Bildinhalte in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts,” in Festschrift für Wilhelm Pinder zum sechzigsten Geburtstage (Leipzig, 1938), 409.Actually since Christian iconography treats the pearl, the most precious jewel, as a symbol of salvation, it would be unusual for it to have strong vanitas connotations. See George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (New York, 1959), 23. Pearls, however, have many symbolic meanings, ranging from the purity of the Virgin Mary to the vices of pride and arrogance. As the woman concentrates on the balance in her hand, her attitude is one of inner peace and serenity. The psychological tension that would suggest a conflict between her action and the implications of the Last Judgment does not exist.

Although the allegorical character of Woman Holding a Balance differs from the more genrelike focus of comparable paintings by Vermeer of the early to mid-1660s, the thematic concerns underlying this work are similar: one should lead a life of temperance and balanced judgment. Indeed, this message, with or without its explicit religious context, is found in paintings from all phases of Vermeer’s career and must represent his profound beliefs about the proper conduct of human life. The balance, the emblem of Justice and eventually of the final judgment, would seem to denote the woman’s responsibility to weigh and balance her own actions,[4]&nbsp[4]Cesare Ripa (Iconologia of Uytbeeldingen des verstands . . ., trans. Dirck Pietersz Pers [Amsterdam, 1644], 144, 432) describes how the balance is one of the attributes of equality, Vgvalita or Gelijckheyt (“Door de Weeghschaele wort verstaen de oprachte en waerachtige recht vacrdigheyt, die een ygelijck geeft, dat hem toebehoort”), and of Justice, Giustitia or Gerechtigheyt. a responsibility reinforced by the juxtaposition of her head over the traditional position of Saint Michael in the Last Judgment scene. Correspondingly, the mirror, placed near the light source, and directly opposite the woman’s face, was commonly referred to as a means of self-knowledge.[5]&nbsp[5]The mirror is frequently considered the attribute of Prudentia and Truth. For a discussion of the various connotations of the mirror in emblematic literature of the mid-seventeenth century, see G. Langemeyer et al., Gerard ter Borch: Zwolle 1617–Deventer 1681 (The Hague, 1974), 98. As Otto van Veen (Flemish, 1556 - 1629) wrote in an emblem book Vermeer certainly knew, “a perfect glasse doth represent the face, Iust as it is in deed, not flattring it at all.”[6]&nbsp[6]Otto van Veen, Amorum emblemata (Antwerp, 1608), 182. The full verse is:Fortune is loues looking-glasEu’n as a perfect glasse doth represent the face,
Iust as it is in deed, not flattring it at all.
So fortune telleth by aduancement or by fall,
Th’euent that shall succeed, in loues luck-tryed case.For further discussions of Vermeer’s use of Amorum emblemata see Eddy de Jongh, Zinne-en Minnebeelden in de schilderkunst van de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam, 1967), 49–50. In her search for self-knowledge and in her acceptance of the responsibility of maintaining the balance and equilibrium of her life, the woman would seem to be aware, although not in fear, of the final judgment that awaits her. Indeed, in the context of that pensive moment of decision, the mirror also suggests the evocative imagery of 1 Corinthians 13:12: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Vermeer’s painting is thus a positive statement, an expression of the essential tranquility of one who understands the implications of the Last Judgment and who searches to moderate her life in order to warrant her salvation.

The character of the scene conforms closely to Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s recommendations for meditation in his Spiritual Exercises, a devotional service with which Vermeer was undoubtedly familiar through his contacts with the Jesuits. As Cunnar has emphasized, Saint Ignatius urged that, prior to meditating, the practicer first examine his conscience and weigh his sins as though he were standing before God on Judgment Day, and then “weigh” his choices and choose a path of life that will allow him to be judged favorably in a “balanced” manner.[7]&nbsp[7]Eugene R. Cunnar, “The Viewer’s Share: Three Sectarian Readings of Vermeer’s Woman with a Balance,” Exemplaria 2 (1990): 518.

I must rather be like the equalized scales of a balance ready to follow the course which I feel is more for the glory and praise of God, our Lord, and the salvation of my soul.[8]&nbsp[8]Anthony Mottola, ed., The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (Garden City, NY, 1964), 85.

The many different interpretations of this painting that have appeared over the years, nevertheless, are a reminder of how cautious one must be in proposing a given meaning for this work. In addition to questions concerning the contents of the balance, there has been speculation as to whether the woman is pregnant or whether her costume reflects a style of dress in fashion during the early to mid-1660s, when this painting seems to have been executed.[9]&nbsp[9]As seen in numerous paintings by Vermeer’s contemporaries, Dutch fashions in the mid-seventeenth century seem to have encouraged a bulky silhouette. The short jacket the girl wears, called a pet en lair, covered a bodice and a thickly padded skirt. This fashion created the impression of a forward-thrusting stomach, which was evidently a desirable one. The opinion that she is not pregnant but wearing such a bulky outfit, which this author expressed in Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century (Washington, DC, 1995), is shared by Albert Blankert in Gilles Aillaud, Albert Blankert, and John Michael Montias, Vermeer (Paris, 1986), 181, and by Marieke de Winkel, “The Interpretation of Dress in Vermeer's Paintings,” in Vermeer Studies, ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker (Washington, DC, 1998), 327–339, particularly 330–332. Nevertheless, I now consider it probable that the woman is pregnant. This change of opinion is based in part on the woman’s posture and in part on the belief that the model is Vermeer’s wife, Catharina Bolnes. See Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675): Sainte Praxède—Saint Praxedis (Monaco, 1998), 28. If she is pregnant, does her pregnancy have consequence for the interpretation of the painting?[10]&nbsp[10]The theory that the woman is pregnant was first proffered by Richard Carstensen and Marielene Putscher, "Ein Bild von Vermeer in medizinhistorischen Sicht," Deutsches Ärzteblatt-Ärtzliche Mitteilungen 68 (December 1971): 1–6. The authors concluded that the woman, following an old folk tradition, was weighing pearls to help her divine the sex of the unborn child. Since then, many authors have accepted her pregnant state as fact, including John Walsh Jr., “Vermeer,” Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 31 (Summer 1973): 79, and Ernst Günther Grimme, Jan Vermeer van Delft (Cologne, 1974), 54, who, as a consequence of the supposed pregnancy, identified the model as Vermeer’s wife, Catharina Bolnes, mother of his fifteen children. I identified the model, on a different basis, as Catharina Bolnes in Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675): Sainte Praxède—Saint Praxedis (Monaco, 1998), 28.Nanette Salomon, “Vermeer and the Balance of Destiny,” in Essays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Anne-Marie Logan (Doornspijk, 1983), suggested that a pregnant woman holding scales would have been interpreted as a Catholic response to disagreements about the moment a Christian soul obtains grace and salvation. Instead of the predetermined state of grace accepted by the followers of Arininius or one gained through the efficacy of good works as preached by Gomanus, a Catholic, Salomon argued, would have understood that the state of grace of the unborn child was as yet undetermined. This opinion was also accepted by Sutton, in Jane Iandola Watkins, Peter C. Sutton, and Christopher Brown, Masters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting (Philadelphia, 1984), 342–343. Is she, as some have suggested, a secularized image of the Virgin Mary, who, standing before the Last Judgment, would assume her role as intercessor and compassionate mother?[11]&nbsp[11]Kimberley Jones, “Vermeer’s Woman Holding a Balance: A Secularized Vision of the Virgin Mary,” unpublished lecture delivered at the Mid-Atlantic Symposium, National Gallery of Art, 1989; Eugene R. Cunnar, “The Viewer’s Share: Three Sectarian Readings of Vermeer’s Woman with a Balance,” Exemplaria 2 (1990): 501–536. Cunnar has argued, for example, that the image of a pregnant Virgin Mary contemplating balanced scales would have been understood by a Catholic viewer as referring to her anticipation of Christ’s life, his sacrifice, and the eventual foundation of the Church.[12]&nbsp[12]Eugene R. Cunnar, “The Viewer’s Share: Three Sectarian Readings of Vermeer’s Woman with a Balance,” Exemplaria 2 (1990): 501–536, corrects a number of misconceptions about the theological arguments advanced by Salomon and focuses on the meditative character of the image. He then analyzes the ways in which a Catholic, a Protestant, and an Arminian viewer might have responded to this work in light of their beliefs. He also accepts as fact that the woman is pregnant and attempts to relate the image to biblical texts, specifically Genesis 3:15, by interpreting the support underneath the table as the vision of a dragon described by John in Revelation 12. While one may question the likelihood of this latter interpretation, Cunnar’s assessment of the various possible theological responses to the painting is particularly useful. Such theological associations were made in the seventeenth century and may have played a part in Vermeer’s allegorical concept.[13]&nbsp[13]For an argument that Vermeer represented here “the divine truth of revealed religion,” see Ivan Gaskell, “Vermeer, Judgment and Truth,” Burlington Magazine 126 (September 1984): 558–561. To support his argument Gaskell refers to one of the personifications of Truth described by Cesare Ripa in the 1644 Dutch edition of the lconologia.

This painting offers one of the most glorious examples of Vermeer’s exquisite sense of balance and rhythm from the early to mid-1660s. The woman, her right hand gently holding the scale, is poised with her small finger extended, which gives a horizontal accent to the gesture. The left arm, gracefully resting on the edge of the table, closes the space around the balance and establishes an echo to the gentle arch of boxes, blue cloth, and sunlight sweeping down from the other side. The scales themselves, perfectly balanced but not symmetrical, are situated against the wall in a small niche of space created especially for them. Although no PentimentiPentimenti&nbspAn alteration made by the artist to an area that was already painted. are visible in the X-radiograph [fig. 2]&nbsp[fig. 2] X-radiograph composite, Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection, 1942.9.97 [see X-radiographyX-radiography&nbspA photographic or digital image analysis method that visually records an object's ability to absorb or transmit x-rays. The differential absorption pattern is useful for examining an object's internal structure as well as for comparing the variation in pigment types.], an infrared reflectogram reveals that the balance was enlarged and lowered. Vermeer has also taken the liberty of raising the bottom left edge of the picture frame behind the woman to allow sufficient room for the balance. Throughout, his interplay of verticals and horizontals, and of both against diagonals, of mass against void, and of light against dark, creates a subtly balanced but never static composition.

Restoration performed in 1994 provides further insights into Vermeer’s extraordinary sensitivity to light and color [fig. 3]&nbsp[fig. 3] Before the 1994 conservation treatment, Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection, 1942.9.97. With the removal of old inpainting and discolored varnish, one can, for example, more fully appreciate the delicate flesh tones in the woman’s face and the subtle modeling of the blue robe on the table. Most startling, however, was the discovery of extensive overpaint covering the black frame of the Last Judgment. The gold trim now revealed creates an accent in the upper right that visually links with the yellow curtain and the yellow and deep-orange accents on the woman’s costume, thereby restoring Vermeer’s original, and more dynamic, compositional intent. At the same time, the X-radiograph reveals that the tacking margins had been opened out and overpainted. With the removal of this overpaint, the image is now smaller than it had previously appeared, and its size reflects Vermeer’s original intention.[14]&nbsp[14]The painted surface now measures 39.7 × 35.5 cm (15 5/8 × 14 in.), whereas, prior to the 1994 restoration, the painting measured 42.5 × 38 cm (16 3/4 × 14 15/16 in.).

The degree of Vermeer’s sensitivity can best be illustrated by comparing this scene with a close counterpart by Pieter de Hooch (Dutch, 1629 - 1684), A Woman Weighing Gold[fig. 4]&nbsp[fig. 4] Pieter de Hooch, A Woman Weighing Gold, mid-1660s, oil on canvas, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie. Photo: bpk, Berlin / Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin / Jörg P. Anders / Art Resource, NY.[15]&nbsp[15]See Picture Gallery Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz Berlin: Catalogue of Paintings 13th–18th Century, trans. Linda B. Parshall, 2nd rev. ed. (Berlin-Dahlem, 1978), 212. The comparison of this painting with Vermeer’s Woman Holding a Balance is not new. For comparisons with slightly different emphases see Wilhelm von Bode, Die Meister der holländischen und vlämischen Malerschulen, 2nd ed. (Leipzig, 1919), 86–89, and Herbert Rudolph, “‘Vanitas.’ Die Bedeutung mittelalterlicher und humanistischer Bildinhalte in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts,” in Festschrift für Wilhelm Pinder zum sechzigsten Geburtstage (Leipzig, 1938), 405–412. Although De Hooch probably painted this scene in the mid-1660s after he left Delft for Amsterdam, it is so similar to Vermeer’s that it is difficult to imagine that they were painted without knowledge of each other or of a common source.[16]&nbsp[16]A possible source for such a motif is Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613 - 1675). Although Dou’s painting style is far more minute than Vermeer’s, many of the genre scenes painted by Vermeer have precedents in Dou’s oeuvre. See Keil Boström, “Peep-show or Case,” Kunsthistorische Mededelingen van het Rijksbureau van kunsthistorische documentatie 4 (1949): 21–24. Nevertheless, the refinements and mood of the Vermeer are lacking in the De Hooch. The woman in De Hooch’s painting is not gazing serenely at herscales; she is actively engaged in placing a gold coin or weight into one of the pans. By her active gesture she separates herself from the quiet rhythms andgeometrical structure of the room.[17]&nbsp[17]The thematic complexities of Vermeer’s composition are also lacking in De Hooch’s work. De Hooch’s woman weighs her gold before a wall richly decorated with a gilded-leather wallcovering and a half-open door leading into a second room. Neither of these elements reinforces the thematic gesture of a woman with a balance as strongly as does the painting of Vermeer's Last Judgment.

Woman Holding a Balance has a distinguished provenance that can be traced in a virtually unbroken line back to the seventeenth century. The enthusiastic descriptions of the work in sales catalogues as well as in critics’ assessments attest to its extraordinary appeal to each and every generation. Perhaps the most fascinating early reference to this work comes from the first sale in which it appeared, the Dissius sale in Amsterdam of 1696. It is the first painting listed in that sale, which included twenty-one paintings by Vermeer, and is described in the following terms: “A young lady weighing gold, in a box by J. van der Meer of Delft, extraordinarily artful and vigorously painted.”[18]&nbsp[18]Albert Blankert, with contributions by Rob Ruurs and Willem van de Watering, Johannes Vermeer van Delft, 1632–1675 (Utrecht, 1975), 136, doc. 62. “Een Juffrouw die goud weegt in een kasje van J. van der Meer van Delft, extraordinaer konstig en kragtig geschildert.” It sold for fl 155, the third highest price in the sale. Nothing more is known of the box in which it sat, but at the very least it was a protective device designed to keep light and dust away from the painting’s delicate surface. In the 1683 inventory of goods accruing to Jacob Dissius after the death of his wife, Magdalena van Ruijven, three of Vermeer’s paintings are listed as being in boxes (kasies). See John Michael Montias, Vermeer and His Millieu: A Web of Social History (Princeton, 1989), 359, doc. 417. Presumably one of these was Woman Holding a Balance.

The protective box in which Woman Holding a Balance was framed was probably related to the painting’s special thematic character. Much as with the boxes that Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613 - 1675) occasionally placed around his paintings, one would be able to see Woman Holding a Balance only after opening two little doors attached to the box in which it was placed.[19]&nbsp[19]Wilhelm Martin, Gerard Dou (London, 1902), 145–147. See also: Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., “The Framing of a Vermeer,” in Collected Opinions: Essays on Netherlandish Art in Honour of Alfred Bader, ed. Volker Manuth and Axel Rüger (London, 2004), 232–239. The painting, thus, was not conceived as a work to be viewed every day, as one passed back and forth while occupied with mundane activities. Rather, the decision to contemplate this painting would have been consciously made, reserved for those quiet moments when one yearns for inner peace and is in search of spiritual guidance. Upon encountering this radiant image after opening these doors, the viewer’s eye, located directly opposite the vanishing point, would have been drawn to the symbolic core of the composition. The experience would have been a private one, a timeless moment for both visual and spiritual enrichment as one contemplated the allegorical themes of balance and harmony that underlie this work. That the painting was listed first in the sale and contained in a protective box indicates the extraordinary value placed on this work, an appreciation that has never diminished.[20]&nbsp[20]Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., “The Framing of a Vermeer,” in Collected Opinions: Essays on Netherlandish Art in Honour of Alfred Bader, ed. Volker Manuth and Axel Rüger (London, 2004), 232–239.

[1] The 1683 inventory of goods accruing to Jacob Dissius after the death of his wife, Magdalena van Ruyven, lists twenty paintings by Vermeer. For the complete transactions between her husband, Jacob Dissius, and his father, Abraham Dissius, following her death, see John Michael Montias, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History, Princeton, 1989: 246-257, 359-361, docs. 417, 420.

[2] For this sale see John Michael Montias, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History, Princeton, 1989: 363-364, doc. 439.

[4] The 1995 systematic catalogue of Dutch paintings in the NGA published the following information at this point in the provenance: "PP. [initials of consignor]; (sale, Ph. van der Schley, Amsterdam, 11 May 1801, no. 48); bought for Ph. van der Schley by M[errem]." This had been provided by The Getty Provenance Index, but was in error. The painting in the 1801 sale was one of the same subject by Pieter de Hooch, now in Berlin, according to a letter dated 27 October 1997 from Burton Fredericksen, then director of the Getty Provenance Index, Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., in NGA curatorial files.

[5] The 1848 sale catalogue says the painting came “from the Delapeyriere collection,” but this information is not correct. This collection is probably that of Augustin Lapeyrière (1779-1831), who owned at least two Vermeers, but neither was the Gallery’s painting.

[8] The painting is number 12167 in Painting Stock Book 5, stock numbers 8800-12652, April 1899-December 1911, p. 204, and in Sales Book 9, May 1907-January 1912, p. 287 (M. Knoedler & Co. Records, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; copies from digitized records in NGA curatorial files). In both entries the painting is listed as by "Jan Ver Meer."

Exhibition History

1912

Exhibition of Old Masters for the Benefit of The Artists' Funds and Artists' Aid Societies, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1912, no. 49.

Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 1(1907):586-587, no. 10.

Salomon, Nanette. "Vermeer and the Balance of Destiny." In Essays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday. Edited by Anne-Marie Logan. Doornspijk, 1983: 216-221, repro.

Bialostocki, Jan. "Mere Imitation of Nature or Symbolic Image of the World? Problems in the Interpretation of Dutch Painting of the XVIIth Century." In The Message of Images: Studies in the History of Art. Vienna, 1988: 171, fig. 129.

Liedtke, Walter A. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and their Ideals." In Great Dutch Paintings from America. Edited by Ben P.J. Broos. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 43.

1990

Liedtke, Walter A. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and their Ideals." In Great Dutch Paintings from America. Edited by Ben P.J. Broos. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Zwolle, 1990: 43.

Technical Summary

The original support is a very fine, tightly woven fabric.[1] When the painting was lined, the format was enlarged about one-half inch on all sides by opening out and flattening the tacking margins. The composition was extended by overpainting these unpainted edges. Regularly spaced tacking holes and losses in the ground layer along the folds of fabric bent over the original stretcher confirm that these smaller dimensions were the original format.

A moderately thick, warm buff ground is present overall, and extends onto the tacking margins.[2] Examination has not shown evidence of an underdrawing but does show a brown painted sketch describing the forms with fine lines and indicating shadows with areas of wash. Microscopic examination shows a pinhole in the back wall near the balance, where the artist probably pinned strings to establish the orthogonals of the perspective system.[3] Both the ground color and the brown sketch influence the final image, the ground color warming the thinly painted flesh tones and hood and the brown sketch contributing shadows to the blue jacket. Vermeer blended finely ground, fluid paint with imperceptible brushstrokes and added rounded, thicker touches to create specular highlights. He softened some contours by overlapping paints and suggested others by leaving a thin line of brown sketch between two edges. No pentimenti are visible in the X-radiograph; an infrared photograph reveals a change in the position of the balance.

Small losses are found in the figure, small areas of abrasion in the dark passages. Discolored inpainting and varnish were removed in 1994. During this treatment, black overpaint covering the frame of the Last Judgment on the wall behind the woman was removed, revealing two vertical bands of yellow paint along the right side of the frame.[4] Overpaint that had been applied along the opened-out tacking margins when the painting was restretched on a larger stretcher has been removed. The painted image, now smaller, reflects Vermeer’s original intention.

[1] Average densities of 20.5 threads/cm horizontally and 16.5 threads/cm vertically were measured by the Thread Count Automation Project of Cornell University and Rice University (see report dated May 2010 in NGA Conservation department files).

[2] For pigment analysis of the paint layers see Hermann Kühn, "A Study of the Pigments and the Grounds Used by Jan Vermeer," in National Gallery of Art Report and Studies in the History of Art 2 (1968): 191–192. Kühn’s conclusion that the yellow of the curtain is Indian yellow is based on a sample taken from the overpaint near the edge of the painting. Subsequent pigment analysis of the ground was undertaken on June 26, 1974, by Robert L. Feller, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, and by the NGA Scientific Research department using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction and optical microscopy (see reports dated September 30, 1994, and October 12, 1994, in NGA Conservation department files). See also Melanie Gifford, "Painting Light: Recent Observations on Vermeer's Technique," in Vermeer Studies, ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker (Washington, 1998), 185–199.

[4] The paint and ground layers in this area were studied by the NGA Scientific Research department using cross-sections (see report dated July 11, 1994, in NGA Conservation department files).

Explore This Work

The gesture [of holding the balance] requires precise coordination of delicate physical and mental calculations—the same capacities that Vermeer's art demanded from him.

Lisa Vergara, "Perspectives on Women in the Art of Vermeer," 2001

Woman Holding a Balance offers a superb example of Johannes Vermeer’s exquisite sense of order and rhythm. A woman dressed in a blue jacket with fur trim stands serenely at a table in a corner of a room. The jeweler’s balance in her right hand rests at equilibrium. A large painting of the Last Judgment, framed in black, hangs on the back wall of the room. A shimmering blue cloth and an open jewelry box with two strands of pearls and a gold chain lie on the sturdy table. Soft light coming through the window illuminates the scene. The woman’s deep introspection causes the viewer momentary hesitation about intruding on this private, contemplative moment.

The woman’s gaze at the balance, when considered in the context of the Last Judgment on the wall behind her, suggests that Vermeer, a Catholic, sought to infuse this work with religious and spiritual significance. Saint Ignatius of Loyola instructed the faithful to examine their consciences and weigh their sins as if facing Judgment Day. Only such deliberation could lead to virtuous choices along the path of life. Poised between the earthly treasures of gold and pearls before her and Last Judgment painting’s stark reminder of the eternal consequences of her actions, this woman personifies the values of materialism and morality that jostled for dominance in 17th-century Dutch society.

The painting’s subtext is reinforced by Vermeer’s refined composition and lighting. For example, the delicate hand holding the balance is placed directly in front of the frame’s dark corner, while the scales are set off against the bare plaster wall—an effect that Vermeer created by manipulating reality. Note that the bottom of the Last Judgment’s frame is slightly higher to the left of the woman than it is behind her back.

It is possible that the young man pictured at the left could be Vermeer’s self-portrait, although there has been no written evidence to confirm it. The artist would have been 24 at the time.

About the Artist

Johannes Vermeer is today one of the most famous European artists of all time. He was born and died in the city of Delft, with which he is strongly associated. His father Reynier was a weaver of fine cloth, which provided the family a comfortable living. In 1631, the year before Johannes was born, his father joined the St. Luke's Guild as a picture dealer.

No records document Vermeer’s early artistic training and apprenticeship—neither where nor with whom he trained. In 1653 he registered as a master painter with the St. Luke’s Guild and had inherited Reynier’s art-dealing business the previous year. In April 1653 he married a Catholic, Catharina Bolnes, whose mother, Maria Thins, exerted significant influence over the couple’s lives. She is likely to have required Vermeer, born a Reformed Protestant, to convert to Catholicism. Johannes and Catharina eventually moved into Maria’s house.

Vermeer’s early ambition was to become a history painter. By the mid-1650s, however, he had turned to domestic scenes and had begun to express his interest in various techniques and devices that could aid him in creating lifelike effects. For example, he seems to have used the camera obscura, a pinhole device used to project an image onto a wall surface with a lens. The device exaggerated spatial effects, and the projected image was probably not sharply focused. Vermeer often incorporated blurred effects in his work, similar to those created by the camera obscura.

Vermeer’s oeuvre was small; only about 35 authentic paintings are known today. He was respected in artistic circles and elected headman of the Delft artists’ guild on several occasions. Nonetheless, in later years, he struggled financially, raising 11 children and also coping with the economic downturn in the 1670s after France invaded the Netherlands.

After Vermeer’s death at 43, his wife was forced to declare bankruptcy, and the works in her possession were auctioned. The artist’s name was largely forgotten until the late 19th century—so much so that the iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring (Mauritshuis, The Hague) was sold for only two guilders and 30 cents in 1882.

The author of this painting has remained an enigma. No exact prototype for this composition of the Last Judgment is known. It appears, however, to be the work of a late sixteenth-century mannerist painter, probably of Flemish origin. One distinct possibility, kindly suggested by Dr. Pieter J. J. van Thiel, is Jacob de Backer (c. 1555–c. 1585), a student of Frans Floris I (Flemish, c. 1519 - 1570) and an artist who specialized in similar Last Judgment scenes. A distinctive characteristic of this composition, found often in De Backer’s works, is that Christ sits in judgment with both arms raised. Vermeer probably owned this painting of the Last Judgment. He dealt in works of art and seems to have used works from his own collection in his paintings. In the instances where we know the actual painting Vermeer owned, as, for example, The Procuress, 1622 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. no. 50.2721), by Dirck van Baburen (Dutch, c. 1595 - 1624), a painting that appears in two Vermeer compositions, his depictions remain rather faithful to the actual painting. He apparently modified the color schemes and the scale of the painting only to satisfy the needs of his composition. He probably made similar adjustments in the Last Judgment. For documents relating to the Baburen painting see A. J. J. M. van Peer, “Jan Vermeer van Delft: drie archiefvondsten,” Oud Holland 88 (1968): 220–224. For other instances of Dutch artists altering the dimensions of paintings within paintings see Wolfgang Stechow, “Landscape Painting in Dutch Seventeenth-Century Interiors,” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 11 (1960): 165–184.

[2]

A review of the diverse interpretations in the earlier literature on this painting is enlightening. It reinforces the notion that Vermeer often chose motifs and moments that have dual implications, ones which the protagonists, as well as the observer, must struggle to resolve. Théophile Thoré (William Bürger), to whom we owe so much for his enthusiasm and research of Vermeer, cataloged the painting as La Peseuse de perles in Théophile E. J. Thoré (William Bürger), “Van der Meer de Delft,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 21 (October–December 1866): 555–556, cat. 27. Although some confusion existed in his mind as to the objects she was weighing in her balance (“La main droite en l’air tient la balance soulevée; dans les plateaux sont des perles et des pièces d’or [?]”), he recognized immediately that a relationship existed between the painting behind the girl and her actions: “–Ah! tu pèses des bijoux? tu seras pesée et jugée à ton tour!” (Ah, you weigh jewelry? You too will be weighed and judged!). Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, trans. Edward G. Hawke, 8 vols. [London, 1907–1927], 1:586), on the other hand, described the painting as A Woman Weighing Gold: “In an interior a woman, wearing a dark blue velvet jacket trimmed with fur, stands weighing gold at a table with a blue cover.” Later, in “A Newly Discovered Picture by Vermeer of Delft,” Burlington Magazine 18 (December 1910): 134, Hofstede de Groot offered a somewhat more complex interpretation of the scene: “Her attention is concentrated on weighing gold, or possibly on testing the accuracy of her scales, for the purpose of weighing the pearls lying before her on the table; thus the picture is also mentioned by the title of A Woman Weighing Pearls.”Philip L. Hale, Vermeer (Boston and New York, 1937), 140–142, returned to this idea in his monograph on Vermeer. He cataloged the painting as “A Woman Weighing Gold sometimes called A Woman Weighing Pearls.”In his description of the painting he wrote: “Either weighing gold or testing the weights of her scale to weigh some pearls lying nearby, a lady stands close to an open window.”

Perhaps the most extensive analysis of the symbolism of this painting was in Herbert Rudolph, “‘Vanitas.’ Die Bedeutung mittelalterlicher und humanistischer Bildinhalte in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts,” in Festschrift für Wilhelm Pinder zum sechzigsten Geburtstage (Leipzig, 1938), 405–412. He reemphasized the observation of Thoré (Bürger) on the thematic importance of paintings within paintings in the Dutch and Flemish traditions, extending back to Jan van Eyck and the Master of Flémalle. Rudolph saw the scene of the Last Judgmentas a central clue to the hidden symbolism of this painting, which he entitled The Pearlweigher. To help interpret the symbolism he emphasized that pearls and mirrors often had vanitas connotations, ones that were strengthened in the context of a scene of the Last Judgment. Indeed, he saw the woman as a personification of Vanitas. Rudolph noted, however, that the scales that the woman was holding were empty.

P. T. A. Swillens, Johannes Vermeer: Painter of Delft, 1632–1675 (Utrecht, 1950), 105, also called the painting Girl Weighing Pearls but did not emphasize the vanitas nature of the scene as explicitly as did Rudolph. He wrote: “She endeavours to adjust her small scales, and is concentrating on this matter. . . . The thought of ‘The Judgment’ compels her to adjust the balance to accuracy.” Lawrence Gowing, Vermeer (London, 1952), 135, offered yet another interpretation. Entitling the painting A Lady Weighing Gold, he wrote: “In this painting a connection between the lady, who seems to be weighing pearls against gold, and the painting that hangs on the wall behind her turns the incident into a fanciful allegory of the Last Judgment.” He then added: “she takes on something of the character of Saint Michael, the weigher of souls in the part of the Last Judgment which is hidden.”

Now, in the case of the pearl weigher, Vermeer became moralist. Behind the beautiful woman, he placed a large painting whose meaning is full of threats: a Last Judgement. Who knows if these beautiful necklaces from the East will not be weighing very heavily in the balance of the Archangel? [translated by Jennifer Henel, 01/23/2012, from the French: Or pour une fois, dans la peseuse de perles, Vermeer s’est fait moraliste. Derrière la jolie femme, il a placé un grand tableau dont la signification est pleine de menaces: un jugement dernier. Qui sait si ces colliers d’un si bel orient ne seront pas d’un poids bien lourd dans la balance de l’Archange?]

Ludwig Goldscheider, Jan Vermeer: The Paintings (London, 1958), 38, searching for the symbolism of the painting wrote: “If pearls can be the embodiment of earthly, transient beauty, how are we to interpret the picture of the Last Judgment behind the Lady Weighing Pearls? Vermeer’s symbolism is not hard to understand.”

[3]

This was proposed by Herbert Rudolph, “‘Vanitas.’ Die Bedeutung mittelalterlicher und humanistischer Bildinhalte in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts,” in Festschrift für Wilhelm Pinder zum sechzigsten Geburtstage (Leipzig, 1938), 409.Actually since Christian iconography treats the pearl, the most precious jewel, as a symbol of salvation, it would be unusual for it to have strong vanitas connotations. See George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (New York, 1959), 23.

The mirror is frequently considered the attribute of Prudentia and Truth. For a discussion of the various connotations of the mirror in emblematic literature of the mid-seventeenth century, see G. Langemeyer et al., Gerard ter Borch: Zwolle 1617–Deventer 1681 (The Hague, 1974), 98.

Fortune is loues looking-glasEu’n as a perfect glasse doth represent the face,
Iust as it is in deed, not flattring it at all.
So fortune telleth by aduancement or by fall,
Th’euent that shall succeed, in loues luck-tryed case.

For further discussions of Vermeer’s use of Amorum emblemata see Eddy de Jongh, Zinne-en Minnebeelden in de schilderkunst van de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam, 1967), 49–50.

As seen in numerous paintings by Vermeer’s contemporaries, Dutch fashions in the mid-seventeenth century seem to have encouraged a bulky silhouette. The short jacket the girl wears, called a pet en lair, covered a bodice and a thickly padded skirt. This fashion created the impression of a forward-thrusting stomach, which was evidently a desirable one. The opinion that she is not pregnant but wearing such a bulky outfit, which this author expressed in Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century (Washington, DC, 1995), is shared by Albert Blankert in Gilles Aillaud, Albert Blankert, and John Michael Montias, Vermeer (Paris, 1986), 181, and by Marieke de Winkel, “The Interpretation of Dress in Vermeer's Paintings,” in Vermeer Studies, ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker (Washington, DC, 1998), 327–339, particularly 330–332. Nevertheless, I now consider it probable that the woman is pregnant. This change of opinion is based in part on the woman’s posture and in part on the belief that the model is Vermeer’s wife, Catharina Bolnes. See Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675): Sainte Praxède—Saint Praxedis (Monaco, 1998), 28.

[10]

The theory that the woman is pregnant was first proffered by Richard Carstensen and Marielene Putscher, "Ein Bild von Vermeer in medizinhistorischen Sicht," Deutsches Ärzteblatt-Ärtzliche Mitteilungen 68 (December 1971): 1–6. The authors concluded that the woman, following an old folk tradition, was weighing pearls to help her divine the sex of the unborn child. Since then, many authors have accepted her pregnant state as fact, including John Walsh Jr., “Vermeer,” Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 31 (Summer 1973): 79, and Ernst Günther Grimme, Jan Vermeer van Delft (Cologne, 1974), 54, who, as a consequence of the supposed pregnancy, identified the model as Vermeer’s wife, Catharina Bolnes, mother of his fifteen children. I identified the model, on a different basis, as Catharina Bolnes in Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675): Sainte Praxède—Saint Praxedis (Monaco, 1998), 28.

Nanette Salomon, “Vermeer and the Balance of Destiny,” in Essays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Anne-Marie Logan (Doornspijk, 1983), suggested that a pregnant woman holding scales would have been interpreted as a Catholic response to disagreements about the moment a Christian soul obtains grace and salvation. Instead of the predetermined state of grace accepted by the followers of Arininius or one gained through the efficacy of good works as preached by Gomanus, a Catholic, Salomon argued, would have understood that the state of grace of the unborn child was as yet undetermined. This opinion was also accepted by Sutton, in Jane Iandola Watkins, Peter C. Sutton, and Christopher Brown, Masters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting (Philadelphia, 1984), 342–343.

Eugene R. Cunnar, “The Viewer’s Share: Three Sectarian Readings of Vermeer’s Woman with a Balance,” Exemplaria 2 (1990): 501–536, corrects a number of misconceptions about the theological arguments advanced by Salomon and focuses on the meditative character of the image. He then analyzes the ways in which a Catholic, a Protestant, and an Arminian viewer might have responded to this work in light of their beliefs. He also accepts as fact that the woman is pregnant and attempts to relate the image to biblical texts, specifically Genesis 3:15, by interpreting the support underneath the table as the vision of a dragon described by John in Revelation 12. While one may question the likelihood of this latter interpretation, Cunnar’s assessment of the various possible theological responses to the painting is particularly useful.

[13]

For an argument that Vermeer represented here “the divine truth of revealed religion,” see Ivan Gaskell, “Vermeer, Judgment and Truth,” Burlington Magazine 126 (September 1984): 558–561. To support his argument Gaskell refers to one of the personifications of Truth described by Cesare Ripa in the 1644 Dutch edition of the lconologia.

A possible source for such a motif is Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613 - 1675). Although Dou’s painting style is far more minute than Vermeer’s, many of the genre scenes painted by Vermeer have precedents in Dou’s oeuvre. See Keil Boström, “Peep-show or Case,” Kunsthistorische Mededelingen van het Rijksbureau van kunsthistorische documentatie 4 (1949): 21–24.

[17]

The thematic complexities of Vermeer’s composition are also lacking in De Hooch’s work. De Hooch’s woman weighs her gold before a wall richly decorated with a gilded-leather wallcovering and a half-open door leading into a second room. Neither of these elements reinforces the thematic gesture of a woman with a balance as strongly as does the painting of Vermeer's Last Judgment.

[18]

Albert Blankert, with contributions by Rob Ruurs and Willem van de Watering, Johannes Vermeer van Delft, 1632–1675 (Utrecht, 1975), 136, doc. 62. “Een Juffrouw die goud weegt in een kasje van J. van der Meer van Delft, extraordinaer konstig en kragtig geschildert.” It sold for fl 155, the third highest price in the sale. Nothing more is known of the box in which it sat, but at the very least it was a protective device designed to keep light and dust away from the painting’s delicate surface. In the 1683 inventory of goods accruing to Jacob Dissius after the death of his wife, Magdalena van Ruijven, three of Vermeer’s paintings are listed as being in boxes (kasies). See John Michael Montias, Vermeer and His Millieu: A Web of Social History (Princeton, 1989), 359, doc. 417. Presumably one of these was Woman Holding a Balance.